The Visitor
by lolalliecatz
Summary: Post book 4. Kuvira gets an unexpected guest while in prison, who shows her the impact she's had on people of the Earth Kingdom. (Kuvira positive.)


For someone who was branded a tyrant, a dictator, a monster, and all of their synonyms, Kuvira actually had a prison cell that was not too terrible. Sure, the outside was made of platinum, and she lived now in a tower that scaled a few stories high so as to keep her far enough away from the earth, but sometimes it just felt like a soldier's room. Bare, with only the essentials, but because her bending could not be used, she at least was allowed to roam free for the most part.

And, there was a small window. Barred, and a little too high (she needed to stand on her toes to see out of it), but it allowed sunlight in and let her look outside once in a while.

Kuvira wasn't sure if that was meant to be comforting or torturous. While it was nice to see something other than bare platinum walls, it also taunted her, showing her the earth that she could no longer get to.

Often, she would occupy herself with workouts; it was a way to keep herself from thinking too much about everything that happened. When she wasn't focused on how her muscles strained and worked, images of what she had done flooded and overwhelmed her mind.

Baatar, Suyin, Opal…everyone that once called her family. None of them missed her.

She half-expected at least one of them to visit, maybe to yell at her or something, but no one ever did. After finding out that Baatar had survived the blast, she partially wanted him to come see her, just so she could tell him how sorry she was. But he never did. Really, she wasn't surprised.

The Beifongs claimed that they took her in, but she never was one of them. Kuvira knew that. She wanted so badly for Su to love her like a daughter, but she never did. When she was young, she was naïve about that. But seeing how quickly Su forgave Baatar and condemned her…she knew.

Baatar was Suyin's son. Kuvira was Suyin's ward turned commander turned traitor.

She was alone. She always was. A monster whom everyone despised. Her biological family cast her out first. And then her adoptive family did the same, once she left Zaofu to help Ba Sing Se.

The thought became numbing; it hurt so much, really, but it also got to a point where it just was something she became used to telling herself.

"You have a visitor."

The words took Kuvira out of her trance, and she turned to look at the guard. Even though she was surprised, she didn't do anything to show it; she became used to hiding her true feelings for the most part. She wanted to ask who it was, but she was too afraid; was it Baatar? Suyin? The Avatar?

After the guard placed her in her platinum cuffs, he motioned for the visitor to come inside before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. Why he would leave her alone with someone baffled her, but not more than the presence of the person now standing in front of her.

It was a young woman. Younger than her, but not a child by any means. Kuvira did not recognize her from anywhere.

"Do I know you?" She raised an eyebrow, asking the question in a harsher tone than she originally intended. But despite that, the girl across from her smiled and shook her head.

"No, not personally." She took a few steps forward, and while Kuvira wanted to take a few steps back, she stood her ground. No, the only person who ever saw her fear was the Avatar, and even while locked in this cell, she intended to keep it that way.

"Then why are you here?" Kuvira's tone didn't soften; she had become too used to using a commanding tone as the captain of the guard and then the Great Uniter.

"I…you saved my family. Back when you stabilized Ba Sing Se. I wanted to thank you for that." The woman's smile made Kuvira a bit uncomfortable; not because it was unsettling, but because it was that warm expression that she was no longer familiar with when engaging with other people.

"You came all the way up here just to thank me? There was no need," Kuvira replied, still confused. Who would make their way up this tower just to thank her for something that happened so long ago?

"Yes there was," the stranger insisted. "We were starving, hiding from bandits and criminals. Whatever we could find was taken from us immediately. My family would have died if you did not show up to help. You saved us."

Those last three words stung, in a weird way. They were almost painful, because they were words she hadn't really heard at all.

"You saved a lot of us." Kuvira couldn't hide her emotions anymore. Her eyes went a bit wide, and she stared at the visitor, speechless. It wasn't often that she couldn't find words, but she did not know how to reply for a moment. Even after all the destruction and all the pain she caused…even with Suyin and Baatar and everyone she loved hating her…here was someone who said that she rescued her.

"I…was just trying to help." Although the girl specifically mentioned Ba Sing Se, Kuvira was talking about everything. All that she had done had been for the Earth Empire, to try and stabilize it and then bring it to greatness.

"I know. …We all know."

Perhaps it was because she was so focused on this woman that Kuvira hadn't heard the chanting from outside. Not until she said that. Kuvira turned and walked towards that small window, and stood on her toes to look outside.

All around her tower, there were crowds of people. Thousands. And, in unison, they chanted her name. Not "Great Uniter." They were shouting " _Kuvira_."

The stranger took a few more steps towards the window to close some of the gap between them. "You did some bad things, but…you were the only one who helped us when we needed it most. And people will never forget that."

Kuvira turned to look at the stranger again. Still, that warm smile was there.

"We will always love you for that. No matter what bad things you have done. All of us who are here and then even more across the Empire. We are appealing for your release. You saved us, and we now want to save you."

Those words had Kuvira stunned, and after a moment of silence, she could feel tears streaming down her cheeks. If her hands weren't cuffed, she would have hugged herself as she sank to the floor, but because they were, she just let them sit in front of her. No longer could she remain the strong and stoic commander; she tried to choke back sobs but was only partially successful. Memories of her parents, of Suyin and Baatar and Opal, and of the battles she fought in against the Avatar flashed in her mind, and a voice in her head told her that the girl was lying, just like Suyin had.

But the chanting of her name continued, and the stranger knelt down to look at her.

"We won't abandon you here. I know I won't."

Slowly and gently, the visitor embraced the Great Uniter, who was still crying. She didn't care anymore if her image was shattered now. Never before had she felt this.

Never before had she felt so loved.

Perhaps she wasn't so alone.

These people forgave her. Even after she did terrible things. Where Suyin and Baatar and so many others hated her still, these people forgave her and loved her.

And that made them more family to her than anyone else ever was.


End file.
